“That voice was no longer as cold and mysterious as before, but was now filled with the anger and frustration of someone who had just burned their foot.”
“You big idiot with a sword!!!”
The shrill roar was like fingernails scraping violently against a blackboard, piercing the eardrums.
“Are you insane?!!”
Accompanying this hysterical scream, the originally still giant oil painting suddenly began to tremble violently.
The frame slammed against the wall with dull thuds. Even the dust accumulated over the years was shaken loose, forming a choking gray mist in the air.
The back of the woman in the white dress inside the painting spun around abruptly.
This time, she no longer maintained that inscrutable posture of turning her back on the world.
Her originally pale and cold face was now twisted with extreme anger and pain.
Her hollow eyes stared fixedly at Julius standing before the painting. Though there were no eyeballs in their sockets, it seemed they would spew lava-like rage.
If looks could kill, Julius would probably have been sliced into a thousand pieces by now.
“Take your hand off!”
Sylvia stomped her feet inside the painting, cursing loudly. The image of the so-called Grand Magus completely crumbled in that moment.
“Take it off! Hear me?!”
“You’re burning me alive—!”
Her white dress began to emit wisps of black smoke under the holy light. It curled and yellowed rapidly like paper thrown into a furnace, shriveling from the high heat with a sizzling sound.
Her originally flowing, waterfall-like light purple hair seemed to let out a pitiful groan of unbearable burden.
For a ghost existing as a spirit entity, having such high-concentration holy light pressed directly against her face was like throwing a living person into a bath of boiling magma.
It was a burn at the soul level, the absolute bane of beings like her.
“Oh?”
Julius looked at the furious woman in the painting, showing no fear on his face.
There wasn’t even a ripple in his pitch-black eyes. They were so calm it was frightening.
He even leaned in closer, bringing the dazzling holy light in his hand nearer to the canvas.
The golden radiance instantly swelled, illuminating every corner of the painting perfectly down to the finest detail, leaving not an inch of shadow.
“So you were there.”
Julius’s tone was as flat as greeting a neighbor he met outside, completely devoid of any apology.
“I thought this painting was old and infested with bugs, so I was planning to help disinfect it.”
“Disinfect your head!”
Sylvia cursed angrily, feeling like her lungs were about to explode—if she still had lungs.
“You’re the bug! Your whole family are bugs! You brainless ox!”
While cursing without any dignity, she frantically shrank back within the limited confines of the painting.
She tried to hide behind the painted red rose bushes, attempting to block the scorching holy light with the background.
But Julius’s hand seemed to have eyes.
When she dodged left, the light moved left.
When she hid right, the light immediately illuminated the right corner.
No matter where she hid, that divine aura as blazing as the scorching sun followed her like a shadow, clinging to her body and roasting her spirit form faint.
“Stop! Stop it!”
Sylvia couldn’t take it anymore.
If this continued, the spirit she had painstakingly gathered would dissipate completely.
She felt her soul was about to be melted by that damn light.
What Grand Magus dignity, what pride of a strong person—all were worthless in the face of survival.
“I surrender! I give up! Take that damn holy light away!”
She raised both hands without any principle, making a standard surrender gesture.
She pressed herself against the very edge of the frame, her face full of terror.
However, Julius did not stop immediately.
He maintained the holy light output, the golden orb hovering an inch in front of the canvas, radiating a heart-shaking wave of heat.
His pitch-black eyes narrowed slightly as he coldly stared at the disheveled woman in the painting.
“Was it you, just now, threatening our Miss Helos?”
He asked.
His voice was calm, betraying neither joy nor anger, but the murderous intent contained within, enough to freeze the air, made Sylvia involuntarily shiver.
This man was serious.
Sylvia had lived for hundreds of years and seen countless strong people.
She could clearly feel that the black-haired youth before her was not bluffing.
If she didn’t give a satisfactory explanation, he would unhesitatingly purify her.
“Misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding!”
Sylvia quickly waved her hands, forcing a flattering smile that was uglier than crying.
Her originally proud chin was now lowered more than anyone else’s.
“I was joking with her! You know, a joke?”
She explained eagerly:
“This is the unique sense of humor of our Spellbreaker lineage! Our way of greeting is just… just a bit special!”
To prove her innocence, she even pointed at her own face, putting on a harmless look.
“And look! Not only did I not hurt her, I was even planning to take her as a disciple! This is a huge blessing! A opportunity many would beg for but never get!”
The more Sylvia spoke, the more wronged she felt.
Back in the day, those who wanted to worship her as a teacher could line up from the southern end of the continent to the north. Now that she was offering herself, she was being treated like an evil spirit and roasted.
She cast a pleading look at the nearby silver-haired girl, who was sitting on the sofa, staring at the whole scene dumbfounded.
“Girl! Say something for me!”
Sylvia shouted, her voice tinged with a hint of shrill desperation.
“This big idiot is going to roast your teacher alive! If I get obliterated, no one will be able to teach you how to control that damn curse!”
Helos watched this ridiculous and absurd scene, the corners of her mouth twitching involuntarily.
Her mind was a little slow to turn.
Where was that noble and aloof Grand Magus who had scared her to the ground earlier?
Where was the Sylvia who claimed she had pulled the Grand Magician off his pedestal, her tone arrogant and unyielding?
The woman before her, who was jumping up and down in the painting to avoid the holy light, begging for mercy without any grace, and even calling her a “fake”—was this really the same person?
Wasn’t this a bit out of character?
But…
Seeing Sylvia’s spirit form starting to look somewhat transparent, as if she really couldn’t hold on any longer, Helos’s heart softened a little.
After all, the other party really hadn’t hurt her.
The suffocating feeling from earlier was indeed frightening, but it had disappeared after she withdrew her power, leaving no lasting effects.
Moreover, that woman’s last words had struck a nerve with Helos.
Teaching her how to control the power within her.
That was an attraction absolutely deadly to Helos right now.
“Um… Julius.”
Helos took a deep breath and stood up from the sofa.
She hesitated for a moment before speaking:
“How about… we let her off this time?”
She walked up to Julius and lightly tugged at his sleeve.
“She really only scared me just now, she didn’t actually do anything. And… she says she knows how to control that ‘curse’ inside me.”
Hearing Helos’s words, Julius’s tense body relaxed slightly.
He turned his head, looking at the girl beside him. After confirming she had suffered no real harm, he slowly withdrew the holy light in his hand.
The golden radiance gradually dimmed, finally dissipating into specks of starlight in the air.
The scorching pressure in the hall vanished with it.
Sylvia inside the painting, as if granted amnesty, collapsed onto the painted grass without any dignity, gasping for breath as if she had just walked through the gates of hell.
But Julius did not completely disperse his power.
His palm still rested loosely on his sword hilt, maintaining a combat-ready stance.
He stepped forward, his pitch-black eyes piercing through the canvas, locking onto Sylvia’s eyes.
“This is the first time.”
His voice was low and hoarse, each word hammering into Sylvia’s soul.
“And the last.”
Julius looked at the disheveled woman in the painting, who was now on the ground fixing her hair, and warned coldly:
“I don’t care if you’re a Grand Magus, nor do I care about your glorious past.”
“Next time.”
“If I hear you show her any disrespect, or try to harm her, or even make her feel the slightest bit of fear.”
Julius raised a finger, pointing at the painting, then at the solid stone wall of the building.
“I will throw this painting, this wall, and this entire building into the Temple’s eternal Saint Fire furnace.”
“I will burn you until not even ashes remain.”
This naked threat, combined with the divine chosen one’s pressure still radiating from him, made the temperature in the entire Rose Pavilion seem to drop several degrees.
Sylvia cowered in the corner of the frame, listening to these words, grinding her teeth in anger.
She bit her lips tightly, her fists clenched.
Back in her day, she, Sylvia, had roamed the continent and killed more mages than this guy had eaten meals. Even the Elemental Kings had to show her some respect. When had she ever suffered such humiliation?
Being threatened to her face by a brat?
This was a total disgrace!
But might made right.
She was now only a wisp of a remnant soul, though she still had some special means. If it came to a real fight, she would probably be purified into dust by that holy light before she could even touch him.
Facing this chosen one, who was so righteous, whose holy light was frighteningly pure, and who was a natural bane to ghosts, she was truly helpless.
“Fine, fine, you’re tough, you call the shots.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes hugely in exasperation.
While tidying her slightly scorched black skirt, she muttered quietly:
“What bad luck. Finally waiting for a good seedling with an anti-magic physique, and she brings such a fierce bodyguard.”
“Young people these days really don’t respect the elderly, not a bit of manners.”
She looked up, glaring fiercely at Julius, then turned her gaze to Helos.
“Hey! Girl!”
Her tone was still a bit aggressive, but compared to her earlier arrogance, it now carried a clear note of bluster.
“You saw it too. I’m sincere. Since your bodyguard isn’t objecting, make sure you show up on time tonight.”
Sylvia snorted, as if trying to regain some face.
She added another sentence:
“Remember to bring some good wine! This damn place never gets visitors; I’m dying of boredom!”
After saying this, she didn’t wait for Helos to reply. She turned her back to the two of them and reverted to that mysterious and aloof stance, standing in the flowers.
But this time, that back view radiated a sense of embarrassment and frustration.
Helos watched this dramatic scene and couldn’t help but laugh.
The fear in her heart completely vanished in that moment.
What Grand Magus, what terrifying ghost.
In front of Julius, she was just a strange woman who would beg for mercy because she was afraid of being burned, and would secretly ask for a drink.
“Let’s go.”
Julius turned around, the coldness on his face instantly vanishing, replaced by his usual gentleness.
He took Helos’s hand again, as if nothing had just happened.
“We haven’t finished opening the windows yet. The dust here is too much.”
Helos nodded obediently, letting him lead her to the other side of the hall.
She glanced back at the painting.
Though that woman had a bad temper, a sharp tongue, and liked to scare people.
But with Julius around, she probably wouldn’t dare to harm her.
Even so, life in this Rose Pavilion would be livelier than she had imagined.